(I’m German, but have lived in the UK for 4.5 years now.)
My best guess is that you are both right, and large cultural differences are at play. I found this really bizarre when I moved to the UK. In Germany, you are an ambitious overachiever if you have a ‘career plan’ at 22. In the UK this is standard.
Among educated Germans, people take longer to finish their degrees, are more likely to take gap years, change degrees. Internships seem to be much rarer. The ‘summer internship’ system does not seem to exist as much in Germany, and just is not considered necessary in the same way. Most Germans do Master’s (which take 2 years in Germany) as only a Bachelor’s degree is taken less seriously. Having children during your degree is more common.
Educated Germans just start full-time employment much later. This is so extreme that in my friendship circle I do not know any German non-EA who has finished their education (all including Master’s) and started a full-time job before the age of 27 (!).
I agree with Denise’s description and Max’s, but I don’t see how it follows that focusing on professionals is more useful than focusing on students. In fact, I think that Germans taking gap years, changing degrees, etc. makes it more plausible that student groups are a promising target audience, as this allows students to spend more time thinking about EA ideas and make relatively large changes to their careers.
(I’m German, but have lived in the UK for 4.5 years now.)
My best guess is that you are both right, and large cultural differences are at play. I found this really bizarre when I moved to the UK. In Germany, you are an ambitious overachiever if you have a ‘career plan’ at 22. In the UK this is standard.
Among educated Germans, people take longer to finish their degrees, are more likely to take gap years, change degrees. Internships seem to be much rarer. The ‘summer internship’ system does not seem to exist as much in Germany, and just is not considered necessary in the same way. Most Germans do Master’s (which take 2 years in Germany) as only a Bachelor’s degree is taken less seriously. Having children during your degree is more common.
Educated Germans just start full-time employment much later. This is so extreme that in my friendship circle I do not know any German non-EA who has finished their education (all including Master’s) and started a full-time job before the age of 27 (!).
Interesting! Thanks for sharing.
I agree with Denise’s description and Max’s, but I don’t see how it follows that focusing on professionals is more useful than focusing on students. In fact, I think that Germans taking gap years, changing degrees, etc. makes it more plausible that student groups are a promising target audience, as this allows students to spend more time thinking about EA ideas and make relatively large changes to their careers.